We are here to support you

FREE counselling services for young people

Counselling is a talking therapy that allows you to talk about your problems and feelings in a confidential and safe environment. We see a counselling session as ‘your space’ to choose whatever you would like to discuss.

The first step to getting support is to fill out a referral form. You can complete the form yourself, or your doctor, school, parent or another agency can complete the form on your behalf, with your permission.

Once we receive a referral form we will contact you to make arrangements for you to meet one of our team for an initial assessment. During the assessment you will talk to a qualified and experienced counselling co-ordinator who will answer any questions that you have and explain how we work.

After your assessment you will be placed on a waiting list while your counselling co-ordinator arranges the right counsellor for you. You will also be offered the option of 6 sessions of online web chat or telephone counselling while you wait for face-to-face counselling to begin. This is free of charge and entirely optional.

Confidentiality

Our support services are strictly confidential. This means your counsellor will not discuss anything that you talk about with them outside of your session.

However there are some limits to confidentiality. For example, all professional counsellors must be supervised and counsellors sometimes discuss clients’ issues with their supervisors. When they do this, the client remains anonymous and the conversation is confidential. It is only in the case of you disclosing a serious intent to harm yourself or another person that the rules of confidentiality may be broken. This is required by law. Wherever possible your counsellor will talk any proposed break in confidentiality through with you. We will also explain more about confidentiality when you come for an assessment with us.